The Cycle of Revolution

Tilly describes the process of revolution as a cycle, and that the “early demands” of the cycle are especially important. They are important because they have the effect of making authorities vulnerable and they “challenge the interests of other contenders”, this is because the people making demands want to take away the “rewards” of another set of people.

So if you apply this cycle to the process of revolution; a complete cycle would be a successful handover of power. A failed revolution would not start back at the beginning of the cycle, but further along because something is still gained: lessons learned and greater communication between potential revolutionaries. A cycle also means that revolution is inevitable, which it is because power is not usually spread evenly.